Guard for children&#39;s toilet seats



Nov. 30, 1937. c. T DE PUY ET AL 2,100,774

GUARD FOR CHILDRENS TOILET SEATS Filed Nov. 25, 1936 INVENTORS anATT/ORNEY.

Patented Nov. 30, 1937 UNITED STATES PATENT oFFIcE GUARD FOR CHILDRENSTOILET SEATS tion'of New York Application November 25, 1936, Serial No.112,733

5 Claims.

This invention relates to a guard for childs toilet seat, moreparticularly of the general type adapted to be temporarily positionedand maintained on a larger toilet seat, although the improvement is notnecessarily confined to this adaptation.

Theprimary object of the invention is to afford a simple and economicalconstruction of guard, made from rubber fabric or other suitableflexible material, of such form that the guard may be readily attachedto the seat in the desired position without requiring any particularadjustment.

A further purpose of the invention is to afford an integral or one-pieceguard fashionedin such a way as to afford elements or lugs by which theguard can be properly positioned with respect to and securely attachedupon the seat.

Another object of the invention is to afford a guard of such a form thatwhen attached to the seat, it assumes the desired curvature bothvertically and horizontally, due to the inherent shape of the guard andthe manner in which its attaching portions are positioned and securedtothe seat.

An additional object of the invention is to provide a guard of rubberfabric or other flexible material having integral extensions orattaching portions which are adapted to be bent upon themselves toafiord lugs of sufficient thickness and stiffness to hold the guard inthe desired position without the necessity of any metal plate, band, orother like instrumentality being engaged with the surface of the guard.

To theseand other ends, the invention consists in the construction andarrangement of parts that will appear clearly from the followingdescription when read in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, thenovel features being pointed out in the claims following thespecification.

In the drawing:

Fig. 1 is a view in side elevation of a conventional type of childstoilet seat, showing applied thereto one embodiment of the invention;

Fig. 2 is a sectional view on the line 2-2 of Fig. 1 looking in thedirection indicated;

Fig. 3 is a bottom plan view;

Fig. 4 is a bottom plan view, with parts broken away, showing a modifiedarrangement of the invention;

Fig. 5 is a sectional view on the line 55 of Fig. 4, looking in thedirection indicated;

Fig. 6 is a plan view of the blank from which the guard shown in Figs. 1to 3 is formed, and

Fig. '7 is a similar view of a blank illustrating another modificationthereof. Referring more particularly to the drawing in which likereference numerals refer tothe same parts throughout the severalviews, ldesignates the side portions separated at the front by the openings 2,and 3 is the rear portion of a conventional type of childs toilet seatadapted to be positioned temporarily upon a larger seat, the dependingpins 4 functioning to engage inside the front of the larger seat andlimit the forward movement of the temporary seat, while 5 designatesrubber bumpers or the like adapted to rest upon the permanent seat.

The means by which the childs seat herein shown is temporarily held onthe larger seat forms no part of the invention, and is therefore notdisclosed, since it is suiiicient for an understanding of the inventionthat the seat can be maintained on the permanent seat by any suitableinstrumentalities.

In structures of this character adapted for children, it is desirable toaiford a guard at the front spanning the opening 2, and according to apreferred embodiment of the invention, the guard, which is constructedfrom rubber fabric or other suitable flexible material, is made from aflat blank which is cut to the general shape illustrated in Figs. 6 and7.

This blank comprises a body or central portion 6 having integral lateralextensions or portions 7 between its ends which are adapted to be foldedupon themselves along a transverse line medially of the extensions 1 toafford attaching lugs by which the guard is secured. to the seat. In theform of the invention shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the extensions 1 areprovided With oppositely arranged openings 8 and 9, so that when theextensions are folded, the openings 8 are superposed over the openings9, and the guard may be secured to the seat'by screws or other suitableattaching devices l0 extending through the openings 8 and 9 and fastenedto the seat.

The guard can be conveniently positioned by locating the front edges ofthe attaching lugs against the depending pins 4, as shown in Fig. 3, andwhen thus secured, the guard is flexed or curved both vertically, asshown in Fig. 1, and horizontally, as shown in Fig. 3. The verticalcurvature shown in Fig. 1 is caused by the folding of the extensions orattaching portions upon themselves, resulting in an endwise curvature ofthe material from which the guard. is formed, and the horizontalcurvature illustrated in Fig. 3 results from securing the lugs to theseat in such a position that they are moved somewhat toward each other,causing a general flexing or curvature of the body of the guardhorizontally, while at the same time reducing the vertical curvature andgiving the guard a more nearly symmetrical curvature in both directions.With the construction shown in Figs. 1 to 3, the guard can be replacedby removing the attaching screws Hi.

In some instances, it may be desirable to provide for an easier andquicker replacement of the guard, and this can be accomplished by theconstruction shown in Figs. 4 and 5, in which the two thicknesses of theextensions 1 are permanently held together by a snap fastener element Hwhich extends through the openings 8 and 9. With this form of structure,the guard is attached to the seat by engaging the snap fastener elementsH with buttons or heads l2 permanently secured in the desired positionon the seat.

Still another modification of the blank is illustrated in Fig. 7 inwhich a snap fastener element I3 is attached to the openings 9. Withthis arrangement, the guard is attached by first positioning theopenings 8 over buttons or fasteners such as 12 secured to the seat, andthen folding over the portions carrying the fastening elements l3, andsnapping the latter upon the heads or buttons of the fastener.

In all the several forms of the invention as described, the attachinglugs are constituted by integral extensions of the guard which arefolded upon themselves, affording a double thickness of material whichconstitutes a lug of substantial stiffness and sufiicient rigidity tohold the guard securely in place, and to overcome any reasonablelikelihood of breaking or tearing, while the desired curvature of theguard both Vertically and horizontally is effected by the folding of theextending portions upon themselves and by the relative position of theattaching lugs when secured to the seat. The device can be quicklyremoved when a new one is required, and there is no difiiculty infolding and positioning the attaching lugs so as to obtain the desiredrelationship when the guard is fastened to the seat.

While the invention has been described with respect to certain specificembodiments, it is not confined to the exact structure shown, and thisapplication is intended to cover any modifications or departures thatmay come within the purposes of the improvement or the scope of thefollowing claims.

We claim:

1. A guard for a toilet seat comprising a sheet of flexible materialhaving lateral extensions at its side edges between its ends adapted tobe folded upon themselves to afford attaching lugs, the folding of saidextensions causing the sheet to assume a curved formation vertically.

2. A guard for a toilet seat comprising a sheet of flexible materialhaving lateral extensions at its side edges between its ends folded uponthemselves and secured together affording attaching lugs, the folding ofsaid extensions causing the sheet to assume a curved formationvertically, and means carried by said lugs for attaching them to a seat.

3. A guard for a toilet seat comprising a sheet of flexible materialhaving lateral extensions between its ends adapted to be folded uponthemselves to afford attaching lugs, said extensions having oppositelyarranged openings to engage holding means on a seat and oppositelyarranged fastening devices for securing the lugs on the seat.

4. The combination with a toilet seat, of a guard comprising a sheet offlexible material having lateral extensions between its ends adapted tobe folded upon themselves to afford attaching lugs, the folding of saidextensions causing the sheet to assume a curved formation vertically,and means for securing said lugs to the seat at such points as to causethe sheet to assume a curved formation horizontally.

5. The combination with a toilet seat, of a guard comprising a sheet offlexible material provided with integral portions folded upon themselvesaffording lugs for attaching it to the seat, the guard being curvedvertically by reason of the folding of said lug forming portions, andmeans for attaching said lugs to the seat.

CHARLES T. DE PUY. WILLIAM C. BAXTER.

